Remember IOU
by rowantree13
Summary: Duo, late one night, listening to a song on the radio... he remembers his past.


Remember: by rowantree13

Remember by I.O.U' is owned by Big Dismal- I know they own the song, but it reminds me of Duo. I don't know what Solo looks like (if there was a picture of Solo somewhere I'd like to see it) but from the manga 'Episode Zero' there's some insight to Duo's past. If you haven't read it yet, then I recommend you do before you read this fic. But it's your call.

He growled as he threw back the covers and crossed the floor to open the window, letting in cold but fresh air into the room. Duo breathed the air, the scent of pine trees and woodsmoke calming him down.

He had trouble sleeping tonight. Especially since he remembered what night it would be when the sun went down. It was the anniversary of the night after the Maxwell Church Massacre, as most people so cheaply called it. Anyone who could talk about it with little emotion hadn't seen what he had seen, hadn't been through the shit in his life he had to put up with...

Father Maxwell, Sister Helen, the resistance fighters and the people living near the church- they were all killed, the church demolished. There was plenty left over after the attack- the ruins, the broken statues and glass, flames burning debris, and the bodies of the dead...

Duo remembered Father Maxwell and Sister Helen trying to teach him about God, but he insisted that he believed in Shinigami, or the 'god of death' because he hadn't seen God, but he had seen plenty of dead people...

'How ironic,' he thought to himself, a sarcastic smirk forming on his lips. Angrily grinding his teeth, he stared outside into the night, his eyes searching the skies for bright stars. But the sky was overcast by clouds.

He whirled around toward the radio, hearing the opening notes and guitar picking of a familiar song. He exhaled in a sigh, realizing it was his alarm clock. He had mistakenly set it to AM instead of PM. He stood, listening to the rhythm of the guitar, and then the voice of the lead singer.

**'When I was a young child'**

**'You watched over me'**

**'You kept me safe inside your arms'**

**'And then you set me free'**

The words conjured up memories; thoughts of his past came to him.

The first person who he remembered watching over him was Solo, when he was just one in a large group of orphans. All the things Solo had taught to him, how to steal, to survive, and when you could afford it, how to be merciful. Duo remembered Solo shrugging it off, saying that when it came down your life and the other bastard's, don't hesitate. When the fight's over, it's over. But having mercy made you human...

Duo was shocked by Solo's death. Without Solo, the other kids were alone and disorganized, so he became their leader. After he and the other orphans were caught, Father Maxwell had watched over him then, taking him in, accepting him even though he was sent back to the church from foster homes countless times... Father Maxwell had used the last of his life trying to protect the church and the others, refusing to fight by spilling blood, tired of the endless conflict. It had been useless, Duo thought at first, then realized later that Father Maxwell had sacrificed his life for his followers, and Sister Helen had let him go...

**'So I flew away like a bird'**

**'Not knowing which way to go'**

**'The light you give me inside'**

**'It will always glow'**

'Let you go where, Duo?' That familiar scathing voice in his mind grated in his ears, tormenting his soul. 'To join with the Sweepers, then Professor G, and then the other Gundam pilots? What was it for? Why were you fighting? Why did you kill all of those people! Why did you do it, you murdering bastard!'

'SHUT THE HELL UP!' Duo screamed inwardly, hands gripping his dark hair, burdened with the constant feelings of guilt and shame. The feelings he hid behind his smile. 'Everyone I knew or loved was taken away from me! So I decided to return the favor, since I was alone, and send others up to meet their maker!'

'But that wasn't the only reason, was it, 'Duo'? There was another...'

"Yes..." Duo thought, the word pounding in his mind. "If I was death, I couldn't lose anyone I loved, because no one can love death. I wouldn't be left behind ever again, because there would be no one to leave me."

**'And I want to remember'**

**'All the times we shared'**

**'And I won't ever forget your face'**

**'You know your hands were always there'**

"But still..."

Duo looked outside, watching the clouds floating past, some hints of blackness or starlight seen through the think filter of the atmosphere. That was the difference between the colonies and Earth. The colonies were designed to simulate Earth, to have towns and cities and whole nations within them... but the skys and the nighttime were simulations, human-created with the help of the right chemical mix and enough moisture, but on Earth, it was all naturally created. He remembered a long time ago, sneaking into a high school to steal some supplies, and hearing a science teacher lecturing to his class, explaining that the atmosphere was Earth's shield, protecting it from space, which was a vacuum that could turn Earth into a frozen hunk of rock, if not for the atmosphere.

He would probably be as cold as Heero or as emotionless as Trowa, if not for Father Maxwell and Sister Helen... they were his shield when they took him in.

**'And still you're strong when I'm weak'**

**'It never seems to fade'**

**'I can hear your voice here with me'**

**'Whenever I'm awake'**

_"Hey, kid..."_

That was what he had been called most of his life. Solo had been the first to call him that.

And Solo... Duo smirked to himself, a distant memory returning to him.

When he joined up with the other orphans, he had stuck to Solo like glue, often following the older boy around. Solo had tolerated the kid, expecting him to get bored or leave or become lost, but surprisingly, the two of them worked well together, pickpocketing the crowds and the merchant's tables.

Some of the street people, the gangs and the beggars, would laugh when they saw the two of them. The gangs were often jeering and insulting them, but one beggar woman had smiled kindly at the tall boy and the smaller long-haired boy in his shadow.

"You're a regular duo, aren't you?"

Solo had shook his head ruefully, laughing a little, but Duo- the kid who up until that time didn't even have a name- thought the woman was talking about him.

Later, when the two of them were sharing a pizza they had found in a dumpster, he asked Solo about it.

"Why did that woman call me 'Duo'?"

Solo had paused in the process of biting into a stale crust. He turned to the kid, puzzled at first, then laughing loudly.

"She meant the two of us, kid. When two people are together, they're known as a 'duo'. She wasn't calling you that."

Solo noted the saddened look on the kid's face and offered a chance to take it back.

"Why did you bring that up? Did you like 'Duo' as a name? Hey, y'know, wecan call you that-"

The kid shook his head, a grin on his face as he picked away a pepperoni.

"No, no. It's fine."

**'And I know you'll be there'**

**'Until the end of time'**

**'Because you sacrificed it all'**

**'Just to give me life'**

Duo remembered when Solo died. The day Solo became sick, he had frantically snuck into a hospital and had stolen as many injections of antibiotic as he could carry without stabbing himself. He ran as fast as he could, dodging past people in the streets and jumping down stairswells, intent on making it back to save Solo's life.

But it had been too late. Even with the injection, Solo was fading. He looked at the kid, his eyes dazed and slightly cloudy, his breathing laboured.

"Hey... kid..."

The braided kid looked up from the injection he was giving to a little girl and scrambled over to Solo's side. A small hand reached down, and Solo clasped it,  
feeling the kid's quick and life-sustaining pulse. Solo managed to speak out the words he wanted to say.

"I... I wish... we could've... spent more time... together..."

The kid looked shocked, tears forming in his eyes. That familiar grin, a little shaky this time, appeared on the kid's face. But his bright almost violet-colored eyes gave his emotions away.

He was scared.

But he hid his emotions.

'He'll be fine... he'll take care of the others...' Solo thought to himself.

"Don't leave us, Solo... you're... you're like my family I never had... don't leave us... don't leave..."

Me.

The kid wanted with all his heart to say 'don't leave me'. But he wasn't that selfish.

If only the kid knew how much Solo wanted to stay.

But he knew it was time.

"Hey, kid..."

Solo coughed, sweat running down his face in small drops, but he managed a grin of his own, his free hand reaching up to grip the kid's shoulder.

"I'll... always... be with... you... we're... you're.. Duo."

Managing a quick breath, Solo spoke quickly.

"As long as you're theDuo I know, you'll never be alone."

Solo's hand shook, and as he loosened his grip on the kid, his hand fell down at his side.

His last sight on this earth was the kid's face.

No.

Solo's last sight on this earth was the face of a boy named Duo.

**'And I want to remember'**

**'All the times we shared'**

**'And I won't ever forget your face' '**

**You know your hands were always there'**

The kid had cried, the tears falling down to land on Solo's lifeless hands. But quickly he reached up and brushed them away, the grin on his face gone.

He wasn't that smiling kid anymore.

He still had the smile, which he would use for years to come.

But now he had a name.

His name was Duo.

Breathing in the cool air at the window, he exhaled, looking up at the sky. The clouds that had previously cast a grayness over the sky were gone.

Stars and a bright full moon were shining brightly.

**'You made me the man I am'**

**'The man I am today'**

**'And for that I owe you everything'**

A smile came to Duo's face.

And unlike the one he had used as a cover, this smile was gentle.


End file.
